Issues of concern to people who live in the west: property rights, water rights, endangered species, livestock grazing, energy production, wilderness and western agriculture. Plus a few items on western history, western literature and the sport of rodeo... Frank DuBois served as the NM Secretary of Agriculture from 1988 to 2003. DuBois is a former legislative assistant to a U.S. Senator, a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Interior, and is the founder of the DuBois Rodeo Scholarship.

Thursday, November 05, 2015

COOL: Countdown to a showdown

With the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) final report on U.S. country-of-origin labeling (COOL) retaliation now due December 7,
the issues seem intractable, despite non-stop conversations among all
parties since May, said Sarah Little, communications director for U.S.
Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kans.), chairman of the Senate Ag Committee. Canada and Mexico could implement retaliatory tariffs as soon as 11 days after the decision is announced. A primary problem is that while some of the die-hard supporters of
COOL are long-standing senators, some of opponents, including Sen.
Roberts, are equally well-placed. Roberts has said it doesn’t matter if
it’s a dollar in retaliation or if it’s $3.2 billion in retaliation, no
amount is acceptable, Little said. Also, while COOL supporters have been unwilling to back away from
their demands that the wording including “born, raised and slaughtered,”
the Canadian and Mexican governments have been equally adamant that the
language be dropped...more (registration)